Liebling | |
|---|---|
 Location in Timiș County | |
  Liebling Location in Romania | |
| Coordinates:45°35′N21°19′E / 45.583°N 21.317°E /45.583; 21.317 | |
| Country | Romania |
| County | Timiș |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2008–) | Ioan-Gheorghe Munteanu (PSD) |
Area | 82.26 km2 (31.76 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 76 m (249 ft) |
| Population (2021-12-01)[2] | 3,358 |
| • Density | 40.82/km2 (105.7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EET/EEST (UTC+2/+3) |
| Postal code | 307245–307247 |
| Vehicle reg. | TM |
| Website | primarialiebling |
Liebling (formerlyBrist;[3]German:Liebling;Hungarian:Liebling orKedvenc;Serbian:Либлинг,romanized: Libling)[4] is acommune inTimiș County,Romania. It is composed of three villages: Cerna, Iosif and Liebling (commune seat).
Liebling is located in the southwest ofTimiș County, 35 km (22 mi) fromTimișoara and 20 km (12 mi) fromCiacova, the nearest town.
Liebling belongs to theTimiș river basin. Tofoaia Valley crosses Liebling to the north, flowing into the Timiș River through theBirda-Lanca Canal.[5]
The influence of the Mediterranean and oceanic air masses makes the winters shorter and milder with a positive average temperature of 0.2 °C (32.4 °F), the coldest month being January. Springs are earlier and warmer, but short and with large temperature variations caused by the activity of cyclones in theMediterranean and theAtlantic. Summers are long and hot. Autumns are also long, conducive to harvesting.[5]
The first recorded mention of a settlement on present-day Liebling dates from 1332. The medieval village was calledBeesd and appears in papal tithe records as having a parish.[6] Around 1597, in a Hungarian diploma, it is mentioned asBriszt.
The modern village was established in 1786–1788 by colonizing Protestant Germans fromPfalz andNuremberg.[7] The village was built according to a well-established plan by the Timișoara administration, under the supervision of Commissioner Wallbrunn, who ordered the construction of 290 new houses, with straight and parallel streets. In the first year only 102 families arrived; the rest came later. The commune thus founded was named by Commissioner WallbrunnVécsháza, after the then governor ofBanat. According to oral tradition, the governor, because he loved Protestants, changed it toLiebling (meaning "darling" inGerman), a name that became official in 1828, the year the Evangelical Lutheran church was built.[8]
AfterWorld War I, Romanian families moved here from present-dayAlba County, which, through the agrarian reform, were put in possession of land (1926). The Romanian population grew post-war, the Germans migrated massively, especially after 1989, and the commune is today mostly Romanian.
Liebling had a population of 3,358 inhabitants at the 2021 census, down 9.81% from the 2011 census. Most inhabitants areRomanians (83.44%), larger minorities being represented byRoma (2.68%) andHungarians (1.75%). For 11.4% of the population, ethnicity is unknown.[9] By religion, most inhabitants areOrthodox (72.12%), but there are also minorities ofPentecostals (7.14%),Roman Catholics (3.09%) andGreek Catholics (2.68%). For 12.17% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.[10]
| Census[11] | Ethnic composition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Population | Romanians | Hungarians | Germans | Roma |
| 1880 | 4,085 | 719 | 28 | 3,318 | – |
| 1890 | 4,429 | 739 | 71 | 3,593 | – |
| 1900 | 4,923 | 756 | 90 | 4,073 | – |
| 1910 | 5,178 | 801 | 187 | 4,168 | – |
| 1920 | 5,018 | 699 | 49 | 4,267 | – |
| 1930 | 4,997 | 872 | 35 | 4,072 | 13 |
| 1941 | 5,086 | 886 | 49 | 4,086 | – |
| 1956 | 4,371[a] | 2,237 | 458 | 1,647 | 17 |
| 1966 | 4,025 | 2,235 | 415 | 1,343 | 24 |
| 1977 | 4,031 | 2,674 | 308 | 987 | 57 |
| 1992 | 3,606 | 3,233 | 196 | 57 | 100 |
| 2002 | 3,735 | 3,368 | 176 | 32 | 142 |
| 2011 | 3,723 | 3,237 | 126 | 30 | 159 |
| 2021 | 3,358 | 2,802 | 59 | 14 | 90 |
The commune of Liebling is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 13 councilors. The mayor, Ioan-Gheorghe Munteanu, from theSocial Democratic Party, has been in office since 2008. As from the2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties:[12]
| Party | Seats | Composition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party | 5 | ||||||
| Alliance for the Union of Romanians | 4 | ||||||
| Save Romania Union–People's Movement Party–Force of the Right | 2 | ||||||
| Strong Romania Party | 1 | ||||||
| National Liberal Party | 1 | ||||||
